Attachment for pencils or pens



(No Model.)

J.A.MURPHYQ ATTAOHMENT FOR PBNGILS 0R PENS.-

No. 494,510. PaltentedMar. 28, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. MURPHY, OF IIOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS.

ATTACHMENT FOR PENCILS OR PENS.

SPECIFICATT ON forming part of Letters Patent No. 494,510, dated March 28, 1893.

Application filed February 4, 1893. Serial No. 460,990- [No model.)

' yoke, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Attachments forPencils or Pens, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to attachments for pencils, pens and other similar articles, the object being to provide an attachment more particularly for pencils, but which may, with convenience, be used in connection with other similar articles, which constitutes a convenient eraser, a protector for the point of a pen or pencil and a part on a pencil which aids in more firmly grasping and holding the same for use, and the invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts of said attachment, all as hereinafter fully described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a penoil having applied thereto an attachment embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a sectional, longitudinal View of said attachment. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the outer, or case portion of the attachment, and Fig. 5 is a like view of the lining of the attachment. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the attachment showing a slightly different internal conformation from that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section and an end View of the attachment showing a different form of head thereon from that shown in the preceding figures, and a cylindrical, longitudinal passage therethrough from end to end. Fig. 8 is a side elevation showing a modified form of head as compared with those shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4.

In the drawings, Figs. 2, 4, 5 and 8 illustrate said attachment in considerably enlarged views.

In the drawings A indicates a pencil on the upper end of which is shown the said attachment, and on the sharpened end of said pencil is indicated, in dotted lines, the position of the attachment when placed on said pointed end.

The pencil attachment herein referred to consists of two elements, viz.,-a' casing, 2, of rubber, preferably of the quality best adapted for erasing pencil or ink marks from paper, and a tubular, flexible metallic lining, 4. The said casing has a body of cylindrical form and a head, 3, either solid, at its apex, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8, or perforated to let the end of the pencil pass through it, as shown in Fig. 7, as may be preferred. Also, the head, 3, of the casing may have variable forms, as shown in Figs. 1, 6, 7 and 8. Said casing is made with an internal diameter normally less than the outer diameter of thelining, 4, so that it shall aid in binding the latter upon a pencil orlike object. The said lining, 4, of the attachment, consists of an expansible and contracti ble longitudinally slotted tube, preferably of brass or steel, but said tube may, if desired, be made of hard rubber, gutta percha, or other similar, suitable material, whereby said diameter may be capable of a more or less variable internal diameter and of embracing a pencil or similar article by spring action, Said tubular lining, 4, is preferably constructed with a series of indentations, 5, in its inner surface, whereby are produced-upon its outer surface, a series of pointed projections, 6, clearly shown in Fig. 5, which projections engage the inner surface of the casing, 2, and assist in retaining the said lining and the rubber casing, 2, in the operative relation, one to the other, shown in the drawings, or in other words, they prevent the lining from being easily drawn out from the casing or the casing off from the lining, while in use by reason of the engagement of said projections with the interior of said lining. It will be seen that the inner end of said lining, see Figs. 2 and 5, is slightly .turned outward. This conformation on the end of the lining serves also to retain the latter in the casing, but not so effectually as when said indentations are formed thereon. The lower, or outer end of said lining is more or less outwardly turned to facilitate the entrance of the same upon the end of the pencil or other article. The longitudinal slot, 7, in the said lining permits the latter to have the said expanding and contracting action above referred to.

It is sometimes found desirable to construct ICO the chambered interior of the attachment to more closely correspond to the shape of the pointed end of a pencil, or to that of a pen on the end of a pen-holder, than is shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and also to provide in the attachment, when used for covering and protecting the point of a pencil or pen, suitable means for arresting the movement of the attachment when used to cover and protect said pen and pencil-point. To this end the construction illustrated in Fig. 6 is provided in which the lining, 4, has the extremity thereof, which covers said point or points, of tapering or conical form and has an annular groove, 8, formed therein about midway between its ends which produces a shoulder, 9, on the interior of the lining against which the larger portion of the pencil at the base of its coneshaped point or the end of a pen -holder, (either of which is indicated by dotted lines in said Fig. 6,) may strike and prevent the attachment from being slid onto the point of the pencil or pen.

The above described improved attachment presents the following practical advantages: The spring action of the metallic lining of the attachment whereby it grasps the end of a pencil or pen-holder on which it may be placed, reinforced by the restricting power of the rubber casing, 2, causes the attachment to so adhere to the article on which it is placed that it remains firmly thereon and is not displaced, while in use for erasing purposes, and likewise, when' it is employed to guard and protect the point of a pencil or pen, it, for the samereasons, remains safely thereon and properly performs its'otifiee for that purpose. Furthermore when the pen or pencil is placed in the pocket of the user with the attachment upon either end thereof, the latter constitutes such an engaging element on the end of the article as tends, largely, to prevent the same from being accidentally lost or drawn out of the pocket.

\Vhen the attachment is made with the longitudinal central passage therethrough extending from end to end, as seen in Fig. 6, it may be placed as an eraser, on the upper end of the pencil, or upon the pencil or pen near the pointed end thereof, and serve for a convenient grasping part thereon, having more or less frictional contact with the fingers, and when desired, the attachment may be slid on the pencil or pen-holder over the end of the latter thereby covering the pencil-point or pen, and so extend the head thereof that it may be used on that end, as stated, for erasing, and after the latter shall have been accomplished it may he slid upward again and be used as before.

What I claim as my invention is 1. An attachment for pencils and like objects, consisting of a longitudinally slotted tube of flexible, springy material, combined with a cylindrical casing of rubber inclosing said tube, and having an erasing head at one end thereof, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

2. An attachment for pencils and likeobjects, consisting of a longitudinally slotted tube of flexible, springy material, having pointed projections thereon,combined with a cylindrical casing of rubber inclosing said tube and engaging with said projections, and having an erasing head at one end, substantially as set forth.

3. An attachment for pencils and like objects, consisting of a longitudinally slotted tube of flexible, springy materiahhaving one end of conical f0rm,and an annular shoulder therein about midway between its ends, combined with a cylindrical casing of rubber inclosing said tube and having an erasing head at one end thereof, substantially as set forth.

JAMES A. MURPHY. lVitnesses:

1-1. A. CHAPIN, W. S. BELLoWs. 

